Strength in a dark place
by 1918Edwardlover
Summary: Bella and Edward are both alone in the world, or at least in feels that way while at school, but can all the struggles they experience actually bring them together.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: sorry i have been away so long, hoping to get back into this. So enjoy and review and let's see where this takes us. **

**Chapter 1**

Bella was one of those girls that had always seemed invisible, and yes i know it sounds like one of those superhero movies. She didn't have powers, she was just quiet and kept to herself. There was points when people even believed she didn't speak, can you imagine.

She went about her day observing those around her, in such detail that it was almost like watching a documentary of school life. Anxiety had always gotten the best of her, controlling her, keeping her mute.

There were very few people that were friends with her, and those that were always protected her, in such a way that it was almost like she lived in a bubble. The bubble was her safety zone, the place that she knew she fit into no questions asked, but reality never lets you stay there for long. It can be cruel and painful but it helps you grow as a person.

Edward on the other hand, while not as confident as all the popular kids, he had a much bigger friend circle. As we all know school can be rough and no one would have known that more than him. Children can be cruel even in teenage years before they really understand the consequences of their actions. It can break a person, it did break a person.

The path to find love is never easy, but sometimes when you are at your lowest the light can shine through.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Bella for so many years had just gotten used to being a follower, if Jessica and angela wanted to go shopping, that's what she would do. Not to say that she didn't end up enjoying it, but most of the time she just wanted to stay at home and just read.

She was not the sort to want to go clubbing either.

She spent most of her days in the shadows of Jessica and Angela and was classed as a nerd just for the association. Days would blur into each other as time went on with the usual bullying taken place, that most of the time the school would just ignore. Or think that by putting someone in detention once it would mean that the behaviour would not be repeated again.

Can teachers really be that blind, can they honestly not see that by letting the behaviour continue it makes the victims feel hopeless.

There are meant to be times that we are challenged and tried to see what we would do, but really is crushing the spirit of someone really the best option.

Bella would spend most of her evenings just hoping that maybe tomorrow would be different that someone may actually she her for the person that she is, Rather than just seeing her as weird, but maybe that was just too much to ask for.

At this point Jessica and Angela were all that Bella needed, or at least thought she needed. She dressed in dark clothes and hoped that it would be enough to get through each day. Sometimes it wasn't enough and the tears would come late at night when sleep was impossible. She had taught herself to cry quietly so as not to disturb her parents while they slept, not that it would have made much of a difference even if they had, the bullying would not stop, the kids at school would just keep getting worse.

Edward wasn't far off, if it wasn't for the strength of his mum Esme the bullying really wouldn't have stopped.

It had gotten so bad that Edward knew he would be left with scars, but it had finally ended and he would not be hurt anymore, well at least not physically. No one could truly escape pain.

Edward stayed close to his friends who had his back as the years were going on, but Edward knew that once he left for university he would not be able to see them as often as he once did. Standing alone can be a terrifying thing, but he knew that it would be the time that he would finally find himself.

The sense of relief that he felt on his last day of college was both emotional and happy. He had decided that it would be a new start once he went to university he would not be the same person he once was.

But reality was never going to be that easy.

People had said that you have usually come in contact with your soul mate a number of times before you finally find them. This could not be more true for Bella and Edward, not that they quite realised how often they had come into contact with each other.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Gonna try going into first person as she how that works out, drop me a review and let me know what you think. **

**Bella**

Time has really jumped for me, the end of college ended very messily i found out my best friend Jessica decided to sleep with my ex, we had been separated for a couple of weeks, but the wounds can still be raw right. I think it was at that point that it just really broke me, someone that i thought would always be there for me had hurt me the most.

It took time but i decided that i would break ties with her and start over, which is what i used university for. I just focused on working and getting my diploma, as the 3 years passed i found my voice and made friends that really understood who i was. My gothic stage ended early into starting university, i didn't need to hide anymore.

I'm not going to pretend that university was easy because trust me there were days that i wanted to give him, and days when i just wanted to sleep as i was holding down a full time job and studying at the same time. I didn't have time for a relationship while studying i barely had time to do anything but eat, sleep, and get back to working. That would probably explain why i never felt completely whole.

It was not long after i had finally finished university that i really it some ways gave up looking for love, going out clubbing still wasn't really me, and i couldn't really meant anyone at work. Someone had once told me that usually you find love when you are at your lowest and that definitely happened for me Edward.

I still remember to this day the first time he contacted me, we had known each other via friends at school but never really spoken. The more i sit and think about it, he was always there in the background. At parties he even dated my best friend Jessica at one point, it was like fate was trying to tell me something.

He had message me on facebook, just a standard responce of "Hi, how are you?" at that point though i wasn't in the best place, i was far too stressed and the message had gone unanswered for a few months.

It got to June, and i'm still not really sure what had made me do it, but i decided that now everything was smoothier i would respond back, and that day we didn't stop messaging each other. Most of what we spoke about was just general questions, favourite colours, tv programmes, but it just felt right.

We agreed to go on a date then next day and it just went from their. The first date was awkward but i couldn't help being nervous it had been years since i had dated someone. At the end of the date we had finally both felt a lot more comfortable and the kiss at the end helped to concluded the date perfectly. I had known 5 minutes into the date that we would be seeing each other again. I had never felt more comfortable and it was just almost like something had clicked for me that just said, "Yes this is the person for you".

The weeks seemed to fly by and it had felt like i had just blinked when we had almost reached the 1 month marker.

I was nervous knowing that some day soon we would need to consider whether we would start having sex. I was worried as my previous experiences with my ex's didn't leave me with much confidence in my abilities, and the fact that normally they didn't last very long either. This is what had caused such a delay and why things hadn't really progressed much more then kisses and the ocassional touching over clothes.

Edward was so understanding though, it didn't seem to faze him at all. Every time i approached the question he would just respond with "Babe there is no rush, i want you to feel comfortable." The Month marker was getting closer and the more i got to know Edward i just knew that no matter how the experience went he would be there for me and he wouldn't laugh.

We had decided to go away together to mark the date, i couldn't help feeling a little anxious knowing what was likely to happen once we got there, but he just held my hand reassuringly on the way there, at points i would catch him glancing at him, as though i was something precious or that i would disappear if he looked away.

Getting there had only taken a few hours, and thankfully checking into the hotel had been easy. The ride upstairs in the lift was just filled with silence, looking at Edward i could see that he looked as anxious as i felt. He squeezed my hand reassuringly, on some level i knew if i really didn't want to do this he would understand and we would stop. I knew i wanted to though, he made me feel so safe and wanted that i knew we needed to do this.

Once we had got to the room and put our cases down, we just stood a looked at each other for a second really taking each other in. I felt the need to say "Please don't have any expectations" From the look on his face i think he thought i had said it about him, so i continued. "I'm not very good, or so i've been told". You could see from the look on his face that he had paid the comment no mind.

The next thing i know we are kissing and tangled in each other arms, it had awoken something in me. It made me realise that i was broken because he was making my body react in ways that it never had. I felt the love that he had for me radiating off of him. He honestly loves me, he showed me that my ex's had been wrong because my body definitely works.


End file.
